Air New Zealand launches Inspiring Voices speaker series

Air New Zealand has launched a new Inspiring Voices speaker series to inspire New Zealanders and their businesses to stand out on the world stage.

24 March 2016

The initiative is a part of the airline's Sustainability Framework and its commitment to supercharge New Zealand's success. Inspiring Voices will see Air New Zealand share knowledge and inspiration by bringing international and local leaders to speak at a series of free events in cities and communities around the country on topics such as social development, business growth and the environment.

In partnership with start-up supporters Kiwi Landing Pad, Air New Zealand's first Inspiring Voices speaker series events will be held in Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown during April. Together, Air New Zealand and Kiwi Landing Pad will bring five highly successful business leaders and entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley to share their knowledge and experiences to date with the New Zealand community.

The Air New Zealand Inspiring Voices April events will be two hour long evening sessions exploring what success in business really means, following on from more in depth all-day workshops with Kiwi Landing Pad.

The speaker series is supported by a dedicated web portal airnzinspiringvoices.co.nz where participants can register for the free events as well as hear from a selection of world renowned leaders such as fellow New Zealanders Steve Hansen and Victoria Ransom or international business leaders including Aric Lapera from Buzzfeed. The website will provide a platform for sharing future video content and events.

Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Christopher Luxon says in its first year Inspiring Voices will be themed around the question "What is world-class?" in an attempt to better define the term, explore why it matters and discuss how as an ideal it might help New Zealanders achieve even more on the world stage.

"In our commitment to supercharge New Zealand's success, Air New Zealand has an important role to play in the local community to inspire, engage, create conversations and share knowledge with New Zealand's business sector.

"In conjunction with the partners and speakers that we can bring to New Zealand, and online content, we can begin to create a nationally significant conversation relevant to every aspirational Kiwi."

For more information and to register for the April events visit airnzinspiringvoices.co.nz. Further events will be added throughout the year.

Inspiring Voices is an initiative to support the development of the communities the airline operates in by sharing resources, expertise and connecting people to world class knowledge. This initiative forms a key part of Air New Zealand's Sustainability Framework.

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Issued by Air New Zealand Public Affairs ph +64 21 747 320

About Star Alliance:

Air New Zealand is proud to be a member of Star Alliance. The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognized by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award and Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Avianca in Brazil, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI and United. Overall, the Star Alliance network currently offers more than 18,500 daily flights to 1,330 airports in 192 countries.